About the service:

Cherry Orchards is registered to provide accommodation and personal care. Cherry Orchards is a therapeutic community and is part of the Camphill Community. The aim is to help adults recovering from the debilitating effects of any life crisis. This may include mental health or psychological problems, learning difficulties, individuals recovering substance or alcohol misuse.

People’s experience of using this service:

People received safe care. Staff were trained and understood the principles of safeguarding people. This meant they knew how to recognise abuse and how to report it.

Each person had a detailed risk management plan . These were to protect and promote their safety. Accidents and incidents were analysed. This was to find out if there were lessons to be learnt. These were shared with the staff team to reduce the risk of reoccurrence. People's needs and choices were assessed and their care provided in line with their preferences.

There was enough staff at any time to keep people safe. The provider followed thorough recruitment procedures to ensure staff employed were suitable for their role.

People's medicines were managed safely and in accordance with best practice guidance. Staff and people at the service followed the systems that were in place to ensure that everyone was protected by the prevention and control of infection.

Staff were well trained and completed a full induction process when they first commenced work at the service. The team also received ongoing training to ensure they could provide care based on current practice when supporting people.

People were well supported to eat and drink enough. They were very well supported to use and access a variety of other services and professionals in the community.

People were supported to access health appointments when required, including community mental health nurses and doctors.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. The principles of the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) were followed.

People were supported by staff who were kind and caring. People were encouraged to make decisions about how their care was provided. Staff ensured they protected and promoted people’s privacy and dignity.

People had built up positive relationships with staff who had a good understanding of their needs and wishes. People's needs were identified and plans were in place to meet them. This was with the involvement of the person and or their family members.

People told us how they were encouraged to view themselves and others as part of a community. The community provided them with care and support. There was also access to a range of local facilities. These were relevant to the needs of the people at the services. They included classes and workshops.

People told us how they valued the extensive grounds. They also said they took an active role in growing vegetables. People could decide to what extent they wanted to take part participate in these activities.

People were well supported to be part of the wider community and attend colleges and other social events in the local area. People lived and worked alongside each other and were actively involved in the day to day chores of running a home. People and staff told us this promoted a real sense of community.

Staff promoted and respected people's cultural diversity and lifestyle choices.

Care plans were very personalised and provided staff with in depth guidance about how to support people and meet their preferred outcomes in their day to day life. There were innovative ways to ensure communication was accessible to people in a format that met their needs.

Rating at last inspection:

The service was last inspected in January 2014. This was because it had not been in scope during the last four years. This means the service had not bee

During a CQC inspection on 18 August 2013 we found Cherry Orchards non -compliant in the CQC essential standards outcome relating to assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision. Following the inspection we asked the provider for an action plan to address the non-compliance we had found.

We re-examined the outstanding outcome during an inspection on 5 January 2014. We found that action had been taken to address the identified shortfalls.

At the time of our inspection there were four people living at Cherry Orchards. We spoke with three of them; they appeared happy and relaxed at Cherry Orchards and felt that whilst living there they had made good progress. We also spoke with four members of staff and examined records and minutes of meetings.

We saw that staff were familiar with people's needs and gave them opportunities to make choices. A range of activities were provided for each person to promote their goals and independence.

We found that people living at Cherry Orchards had been involved in planning their care and staff were familiar with people's needs. The support plans we saw provided details of people's individual goals, wishes and preferences. Cherry Orchards had sought advice from external healthcare professionals where necessary and this was recorded in people's care files.

The service had safe systems in place for the storing and administering of medicines and staff received appropriate training in this area.

Staff had received an appropriate induction and were also supported through a system of regular supervision and appraisals. Staff we spoke with felt supported by the management team particularly in furthering their skills and development.

The views of people living at Cherry Orchards and their representatives were taken into consideration. However, the provider did not have effective quality assurance systems in place to monitor the performance of Cherry Orchards.

We spoke with the four people living in Cherry Orchards about their experience of the care they received. We spoke with four members of staff including the registered managers.

People told us they were involved in making decisions about the care their received. Weekly meetings were organised to enable the person to discuss their care and support needs. Care was tailored to the individual and person centred.

People had a choice of activities that they could participate in as part of their therapeutic programme.

People said they were aware of the rules and boundaries that were in place and these had been discussed with them prior to them moving to Cherry Orchards. Individuals told us they were consulted about the service and felt able to raise concerns to the management team and staff.

Comments from people using the service included “I feel safe and I have made a good recovery since being here”, “I like the structure that is in place, I now have a purpose to my day”. Another person said “the staff are supportive; they listen and enable me to make decisions about how I want to be supported”. Two people indicated that this was the life line they needed in respect of the support they were receiving and that they did not want to return to hospital.

People told us they were able to choose how to spend their day however there was an expectation that you would participate in the activities that were being organised at Cherry Orchards. People told us they were told about this prior to agreeing to move to the service.

People told us that they could move freely around the home and the grounds.

People told us they were involved in planning of their care. This included meeting with their key worker and co-workers that were involved in their care. Each person had a circle of support which included 2-3 named co-workers. People told us they had access to their records.

People told us they met with their key worker on a weekly basis to discuss any concerns, agree any goals for the forthcoming week and general progress.

People have a choice of activities that they can participate in as part of their therapeutic programme. These included tending to the garden, arts and crafts, preserving the produce of the land, baking, candle making, communications groups and drama to name a few.

People told us they were aware of the rules and boundaries that were in place and these had been discussed with them prior to the moving to Cherry Orchards.

People told us they were consulted about the service and felt able to raise concerns to the management team and staff.

People told us they were asked their opinions on how the service was run and were kept informed of any changes.

People told us the staff were approachable and had an understanding of their needs. One person said “the staff have supported me to deal with my ongoing issues and allow me to talk”. However, one person told us they felt they had a better understanding of their mental health condition than the staff and sometimes they did not respond how they wanted them to”.

People told us that friends and family could visit and they were made to feel welcome.